Find your inner tortoise
Have you noticed that the food you eat every day is changing little by little？Recently, have you missed a taste that reminds you of your childhood? Have you complained that your food is losing a subtle taste making it not as good as before? Have you asked yourself when that joy of slow eating disappeared? Actually, the sense of smell is the most direct sense of human beings. When fast food dominates people’s lives, the pleasure of enjoying food no longer exists. And this depression pervades other aspects of our life. Some people began to reflect on the phenomenon. At the time, when Carol Petrini watched teenagers gobbling down McDonald’s, he couldn’t understand why people had become slaves to speed. We have been infected with the same virus—fast food. To change this situation, people need to start a resistance now.
Can you remember the last time when you and your family members gathered at the table and enjoyed traditional homemade dishes together? Food, one of the bonds of people’s emotions, is unwittingly eroded by the culture of fast food. This accelerated pace of life contributes to the elimination of certain kinds of food. Since 1900, over 75% different kinds of food have been disappearing in Europe. The number is 93% in America. Over 33% poultry have become endangered. In the last century, more than thirty thousand kinds of vegetable have disappeared from the dinning table. This is still a big threat to food diversity.
To face the problem, the Slow Food Organisation was founded in 1986. ‘Slow Food Movement’ advocates cherishing the original ingredients and ways of cooking, avoiding food with chemicals, growth hormones or antibiotics. What this movement prizes is the natural deliciousness of the simple cooking process. The key purpose of slow food culture is to protect endangered traditional recipes, through which we keep the balance of the ecology system. Making sure that food diversity and national culture appear on the dinning table is also the target of slow food. In Carol Petrini’s view, the cultural value of ham made in traditional ways is more precious than a medieval castle. Slow Food Movement gives people a chance to preserve humanity throughout the process of seeking taste. These ‘slow food groups’ have decided that rather than objecting to a certain food or recipe, they will pay more attention to tradition and culture. Instead of opposing certain fast foods, they work hard to deal with the loss of uniqueness caused by following global trends blindly.
Food is something that is put on the plate and is eaten. However, beyond this, it represents a complicated process of food produce and manufacture. When it comes to the term ‘slow food’, the majority of people tend to equate it with eating slow. In fact, ‘slow food’ is not just about that. Eating slow is the last step of the consuming chain, before which are cultivating slow and cooking slow. Only when people understand the whole process can they get in the spirit of slow food. When we reflect on the problem of social justice through food, the ecological food produce system cannot be ignored.
For example, to some extent, fast food results from the idea of ‘anthropocentric’, which persists that nature serves mankind. This misunderstanding leads to the increasing pace of human development, giving an excuse for deforestation and over-farming. Edgar Morin, a French philosopher and sociologist considered science, technology, industry and capital economics as the four forces that drive the world forwards, but which also contribute to the problem of blind development. In the context of Global financial integration, the damage caused by this kind of agricultural development continues to grow.
‘Slow food’ shows a possible future trend which not only involves delicacy, but also has something to do with the ecology of diet. Therefore, the concept of ‘slow food’ goes with environmental and ecological protection. We could say that fast food is not the source of the sin, but the seeking of quick success and instant benefit. Slow food doesn’t mean that everything needs be stopped. What we get through the Slow Food Movement is a better life and a balance between tradition and the modern. The slow food movement is an attitude towards healthy diet, a heritage of diverse culture and a positive lifestyle.
Xiaoxi Lin
